Weldless ball valve problems

Just opened up a Christmas present of a new 10gal MegaPot with weldless ball valve kit, but I can't get it to install correctly. As you can see in the picture below, the o-rings won't get close enough to make a good seal. In the 4th picture, you can see the coupler doesn't go any further up the threaded middle piece. Because of that, (pictures 2 and 3) you can see that the o-rings leave a gap that prevents a good seal from forming. Any thoughts?

You could throw a couple SS washers on either side of the pot to give you some thickness to work with.

Or you could ditch the nipple that came with the fitting and use one like this: 1/2" NPT nipple close

Chromados

That's what I figured, but I couldn't find SS washers anywhere near me

You could also replace the SS 1/2" pipe nipple with a what they call a "close" nipple with less length on it. It would take up that space.

Like this one Stainless Steel Close Nipple

mobilecabinworks said:

You could also replace the SS 1/2" pipe nipple with a what they call a "close" nipple with less length on it. It would take up that space.

Like this one Stainless Steel Close Nipple

Click to expand...

Exactly correct.

Fwiw, the bulkhead shown in the original post is set up for a cooler MLT...

Cheers!

I had the exact same problem, but unfortunately I didn't find this forum until a nightmarish set of exchanges with the supplier, and many trips to local hardware stores.

Apparently, they get these valve assemblies prepacked, and they haven't been doing any quality inspection before they ship. So when I ordered the kettle assembly, they sent me a sealed package that said "kettle," but actually had the wrong sized nipple in it.

NB caries two SS 1/2" NPT nipples:
- the one for COOLERS is 1 1/2" long, and has a space in the middle of the two threaded sides.
- the one for KETTLES is called "close" or "full-threaded", and has no space, and is closer to 1" long (exactly 1.125")

If you have trouble assembling the MegaPot valve kit, or a NB kit you order separately, be sure to call their customer service line. Once they realize the problem, they'll ship you the correct part via FedEx 2 day (for free, of course). [They also sent me a few free pint glasses ]

But in my case, it took me a long time to convince them that they'd shipped me the incorrect part. (They shipped me two more of the incorrect-sized 1.5"long nipples before sending me the right product. What a HEADACHE!)

Also, I found out the hard way that STAINLESS FITTINGS ARE NOT AVAILABLE AT LOCAL STORES. In the Chicago area, the following five stores carry brass, galvanized, & "black steel" NPT fittings, but NOT stainless steel:
- Home Depot
- Lowes
- Menards
- Ace
- Crafty Beaver

Yeah, I ended up contacting Northern Brewer and they shipped me a new part the next day. (They even gave me a free pint glass!).

Of course, in the mean time I had already found the part at a local hardware store, but they did fix the problem for me in a relatively short period of time.

SS washers at http://www.fastenal.com/web/product...lpartial&Ntpc=1&N=999600089&Nty=0

got them in a few days.

What is the big advantage in using SS ball valves over brass? They are much more expensive so I want to make sure it is really worth the money. I just ordered a new brew pot from instawares.com and now need a valve assembly for it.